Flagler tourism effort up as summer arrives

By Aaron Londonaaron.london@news-jrnl.com

Friday

Jun 26, 2015 at 12:46 PM

April might be the cruelest month but June is looking good for Flagler County tourism development efforts.With bed tax collections up 16 percent for the year and a bevy of events on the calendar, tourism is heading into the second half of the year on a high note. The taxes are collected on overnight stays at area hotels and campgrounds and are used to fund tourist development activities. County officials are considering raising the bed tax another 1 percent in the next fiscal year.“We’ve seen an upward trend for every single month of the year,” said Matt Dunn, vice president of tourism development at the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce. “If we continue to see this trend, which we expect we will, I have no doubt that we will see another record-setting year.”In 2014, Flagler County saw a 13 percent increase year over year in bed tax collections, which are used to fund the efforts of the Tourist Development Council, including disbursement of grants for local organizations and special events, tourism infrastructure and beach renourishment. One of the keys to that success has been a focus on niche sporting events and an effort to directly solicit event organizers to come to Flagler County.So far this month, the EVP Pro Beach Volleyball tour came to Flagler Beach, followed by a Father’s Day Lacrosse tournament. A PDA Florida 3 vs. 3 soccer tourney is on the schedule and the month will end with the Florida Flag Football League state championships.Dunn said three of the events — the lacrosse tourney, the soccer event and the flag football championship — are returning events.“There’s been solid growth in all three returning events, so I definitely expect to see a rise in their impact on our tourist development tax collections for June,” Dunn said. “In addition, there is summer vacation travel that starts in June after the majority of schools end their year.”Dunn said repeat business is especially important to maintaining the tourism development effort. And as part of its move to solicit business directly, tourism staff also work with event organizers to ensure a return visit.“One of the goals we have is when we are bringing in repeat business is to help those event directors grow those events,” Dunn said. “That means really catering to the event more so then we have ever in the past. We are providing visitors with more information further ahead of time then we ever had in the past.”Dunn said the effort to reach out to event organizers includes working with the local lodging community.“Working with our lodging partners, we are working to get reduced rates and, when possible, sending promotions and packages and things that our partners are helping us put together,” he said.Those efforts could pay off even more next year as county officials consider raising the bed tax to 5 percent from its current 4 percent.“The plan would include a combination of capital projects that will support brining in different types of group business as well as additional advertising and event funding support,” Dunn said.Dunn said at the current pace of bed tax collections, the additional 1 percent would generate additional revenue in excess of $500,000 annually.Beyond bed tax collections, the tourism effort is also having a positive effect on overall economic development, according to Helga van Eckert, executive director at the Flagler County Department of Economic Opportunity.“Tourism’s role in economic development is multifaceted,” she said. “In our case, it has a social, environmental and economic impact. Tourism events encourage improvements to our infrastructure and recreational amenities, creating a great quality of life and a sense of community pride. Focusing on the natural assets, it helps to promote conservation of resources. Economically, it creates leisure and hospitality employment as well as indirect employment as visitors frequent the local restaurants and retail shops.”Dunn said the goal is to keep Flagler County in the mind of tourists, even when they are not traveling to a sporting event.“In reaching out to them in advance, we not only are helping them to have a memorable experience when they come to the event, we hope they are also looking to come back again for some other kind of trip.”

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